Chickens were allowed access to food for 2 hours per day or were fed ad libitum. Oral and intravenous glucose tolerance tests were conducted. Meal-feeding did not impair glucose tolerance in the chicken, as has been reported in meal-fed humans. Rats were meal-fed. The lipogenic capacity of adipose tissue from meal-fed rats was greater than observed in nibbling rats. Changes in adipose tissue lipogenic capacity occurred slowly when meal-fed rats were reverted to ad libitum feeding whereas lipogenic capacity increased rapidly when ad libitum fed rats were switched to meal-feeding.